Immunology Graduate Group
Susan Weiss
Professor, Microbiology
Address: 203A Johnson Pavilion
Office Phone: 215-898-8013
Lab Phone: 215-898-4672
Fax: 215-573-4858
Email: weisssr@mail.med.upenn.edu
Dr. Weiss' Microbiology page
Education:
Ph.D., Harvard Medical School
B.A., Brandeis University
Research Interests
Murine coronavirus pathogenesis in the central nervous system and the liver
* NEW Replication and pathogenesis of SARS coronavirus.
Research Summary
For murine coronavirus: We select recombinant viruses with altered viral genes and use these to probe the determinants of viral pathogenesis. We study the role of viral spread, receptor utilization and the immune response in determining tropism and virulence in the brain and in the liver.
For SARS coronavirus: We are beginning to establish a reverse genetics system for SARS coronavirus. We will use this recombination system to probe the functions of individual viral genes, with a focus on the spike gene, which encodes the attachment protein.
Recent Publications
Matthews, A., Weiss, S.R., Schlomchick, M., Hannum, L.G., Paterson. Y. 2001. Organ-
specific requirement for antibody to clear infectious murine coronavirus. J Immunol. 67:5254-5263.
Matthews, A.E. , Weiss, S.R., Paterson, Y. 2002. Murine hepatitis virus - a model for
virus-induced CNS demyelination. J. Neurovirol. 8:76-85.
Matthews, A., Lavi, E., Weiss, S.R., Paterson. Y. 2002. Neither B nor T cells arerequired for CNS demyelination in mice persistently infected with MHV-A59. J Neurovirol. 8:257-264.
Phillips,J.J., Chua, M.M., Rall, G.F., Weiss, S.R. 2002. Murine coronavirus spike glycoprotein mediates degree of viral spread, inflammation and virus-induced immunopathology in the central nervous system . Virology301:109-120.
Das Sarma, J., Scheen, E., Seo, S., Koval, M., Weiss, S.R. 2002. Selection of recombinant
murine coronaviruses with efficient and stable expression of the enhanced green fluorescent protein. J. Neurovirol. 8:381-391.
San Mateo, L.R., Chua, M., Weiss, S.R., Shen, H. 2002. Perforin-mediated CTL cytolysis counteracts direct spread of Listeria monocytogenes. J Immunol. 169:5202-5208.
Tsai, J.C., Zelus, B.D., Holmes,K.V., Weiss, S.R. 2003. The N-terminal domain of the murine coronavirus spike glycoprotein determines the CEACAM1 receptor specificity of the virus strain. J. Virol., 77:841-850.
Navas , S.,and Weiss, S.R. 2003. Murine coronavirus-induced hepatitis: JHM genetic background abrogates A59 spike-determined hepatotropism. J. Virol.
Tsai, J.C., de Groot, L. Pinon, J.D., Phillips, J.J. , Seo, S., Lavi, E., Weiss, S.R. 2003. The L1114R mutation in heptad repeat region I of the MHV spike restricts viral spread to the olfactory bulb, Virology 312: 369-380.